Beneath Her Bastard Boss

Chapter 163 Chapter 163 Blair stared at her phone screen, the photo of her baby sister disheveled, terrified, but defiantly holding a newspaper. The newspaper was there as proof of life. She hadn't even known Keira was missing. When and how ran through her mind but the thing that worried her most was her sister being hurt.

She didn't look hurt, just angry, hidden well in her expression. That wasn't a good sign. Keira was known to be mouthy when she was angry. Roman had just gone for a shower. The message had cthrough a little after 5:45 am from a number she didn't know, Blair's hands trembled as she zoomed in on Keira's face, searching for any sign of physical injury she might have missed. There was nothing obvious, no sign of bruises or blood but her sister's eyes told a different story, Behind that defiant stare was fear, carefully masked but visible to someone who had known Keira her entire life.

Realizing they wouldn't have just sent a photo, Blair looked for any message sent with the photo.

Text: 10 million dollars if you want to get your sister back in one piece. Tell no one or she dies. We have the prince as well. Do as we say, or they are both dead.

Blair pressed a hand to her mouth, stifling the sob that threatened to escape. Her other hand instinctively moved to her baby bump, protective. She needed to stay calm for the baby, for Keira.

"Roman!" she called out, her voice cracking. "ROMAN!" The shower shut off immediately. Seconds later, her husband appeared in the doorway of their bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, water still dripping from his shoulders.

"What's wrong?" His eyes scanned her quickly; concern etched into his features.

Blair held up her phone, because she was unable to form the words. Roman crossed the room in three long strides, taking the device from her hand. His expression darkened as he absorbed what he was seeing. "Fuck." His voice was deadly.

Blair found her voice. "Roman, I didn't even know she was missing. How could I not know my own sister was kidnapped?" "Blair, we will get her back I promise you. I know this is hard, but I need you to focus on you and the baby. Not work yourself up over this. You have to trust that Luca and I will do everything to bring her hsafe." She gave him a look that told him there was no staying calm about this and was he frigging joking. Roman pulled her up into his arms, holding her tight against his wet chest for a few moments he then said. "I need you to call Luca and Sutton while I make a few calls." "They said don't call anyone but I'm thinking that's the police, right?" "Not the police." Roman's expression hardened as he released her. "Not yet. We don't know how volatile the situation is. If they see police involvement, they might-" He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to.

Blair nodded, understanding the unspoken implication. "Who are you calling then?" "My security team. Private contractors if needed." Roman was already pulling on clothes. "People who can move without drawing attention and they don't have the red tape to cut through like the police or FBI." "FBI?" "Prince Alexei is involved so if we involve anyone, I'm guessing it will be them. But I doubt Prince Alexei's people want the authority involved." Blair dialed Sutton's number with shaking fingers. Her sister answered on the third ring, voice thick with sleep. "Blair! It's not even c "Keira's been kidnapped," Blair interrupted, the words catching in her throat. "With Prince Alexei. I just received a ransom demand.

There was a sharp intake of breath, then complete silence for three seconds.

"I'm on my way." Sutton said, fully alert now. "We'll be there soon." The line went dead. But not before Blair heard Sutton scream Luca's nvery much like how Blair had yelled Roman's when she had received the text.

Roman dressed now, pulled her back into his arms as he made his own phone call, he spoke rapidly explaining what was going on. "Peters, hire whoever you need to, I don't care about the cost.... I'm going to get in touch with Prince Alexei's people now. But we need to have our own plans in place because we can't guarantee Wystovia plans include getting Keira out. Callwhen everything is in place." Blair froze. "You don't think they'll-" "I'm saying they'll prioritize the prince. We prioritize Keira." She swallowed hard. "Got it." This was so surreal.

Blair sank onto the edge of the bed as Roman continued making calls trying to get Prince Alexei's people on the phone. Her hand returned to her baby bump, trying to calm herself. The doctor had warned about stress during pregnancy. But how could she not be stressed when her baby sister was being held for ransom? Roman couldn't reach anyone directly, so he called his connections who had connections, unconcerned about disturbing their sleep. He never explained his need to contact Wystovian officials, he simply insisted that he must.

Ten minutes later, Roman's phone rang with an international number.

"That was fast," he muttered, putting the call on speaker. "Roman Kingston." "Mr. Kingston." The voice was clipped, formal, with a slight Eastern European accent. "This is Vince Dragun, Director of Royal Security for the Kingdom of Wystovía. I understand you are aware that your sister-in-law Keira Warner has been taken alongside Prince Alexei last night." Blair and Roman exchanged glances. They had been taken last night and no one thought to let them know. "May I ask why we didn't get told when it happened?" Roman asked, his tone carefully neutral.

"We have resources, Mr. Kingston, that you do not. We wanted to keep everything under wraps until we had more details." "Bullshit, you don't get to make that choice with my sister-in-law's life. What if she didn't have a wealthy family to pay for her release, would she have been collateral damage?" "Mr. Kingston, please. We would have done everything to protect Miss Warner." "Why don't I believe you, maybe because we should have heard from you last night.'

"We've been monitoring the situation." A pause. "When the m kidnappers made contact with your family, we thought it prudent to coordinate efforts. We don't want to trigger the wrong outcome." "You've been monitoring us?" Blair couldn't keep the edge from her voice.

"Mrs. Kingston," Dragun's tone softened slightly. "When a royal goes missing, we activ We activate certain protocols. Tassure you, our only interest is in securing both hostages safely." Roman took over. "What are you proposing, Director?" "Collaboration. My team will be at your residence within the hour. We have specialized equipment and training for these situations. The kidnappers have contacted the palace as well." "And what does His Majesty plan to do?" Roman asked.

"Officially, Wystovia does not negotiate with kidnappers." A weighted pause. "Unofficially, alm resources are bei being deployed to locate and extract both hostages. But paying a ransom doesn't mean we would get them back alive." Blair looked at Roman in horror, mouthing to him alone. "Is that true?" He nodded that Dragun was speaking the truth. She covered her mouth with her hand, stopping herself from crying out.

"We will see your people in an hour. But understand Mr. Dragun, you have no idea what we can do." He hung up before waiting for a reply.

Roman looked at Blair. "I don't fully trust them." "Neither do 1," Blair admitted. "But we need all the help we can get." The will be updated first on this website. Cback and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!